Formula One Autocentres - Guildford Reviews 47

I called this center after having such good experience last time I used them... Unfortunately I'd never ever go here again!!!!. I called up and spoke to a real nice guy who I also dealt with last time..he booked me in for 2 weeks time on a Saturday to look at my handbrake and replace my wash bottle ..a week before I went I called back up to see if he was happy to fit customers parts...he was .. I went on the Saturday just to be turned away !!! Apparently had no appointment ..even after all the phone calls with the other guy ..then the new manager tells me , his snowed under anyway...so basically he turned me away because he couldn't be bothered to do the work!! What kind of business u running... And with a new manager like that... Wouldn't be surprised if they close real soon!! Steer clear of this garage!! I am also reporting to trading standards...what a disgusting customer service...didn't even get an apology!!

Just had a great service and MOT on my Hyundai i30 at Formula one autocentres Guildford. They provided me with detailed notes on the service which i found useful. Although I was disappointed that it failed its MOT, they made the necessary repairs quickly and cheaply. I was impressed with William, their technician, who was really helpful.

I recently visited this garage in Guildford and was very impressed with the service. The staff were professional, friendly, and took the time to explain everything clearly. It's refreshing to find such a helpful team—I'll certainly be returning. The person called William was very helpful and friendly.
Mo

Booked my car in for a puncture repair late last Saturday night.
I popped into the Guildford branch circa 11am on Sunday the next day.
Zach was awesome - I said that I was a bit fussy about my alloys with regard to any damage but he put my mind at rest.
The issues was a screw in the main body of the tyre so within 25 mins I was on my way - superb. Alloy was still spotless after repair.

Thanks Zach!

F1 Auto Centre Guildford Gobsmacked!

Followed into the Guildford centre by the RAC who had completed a temporary repair on the front passenger side tyre. Blue plug clearly evident in tyre.

Staff member confirmed they could get a tyre in that day or early the following morning (this was 9am Tuesday morning) ALL GOOD

Wednesday afternoon I start to wonder if I will get a call and decide to ring myself and chase up
Oh yeh mate tyre has just come in and I will get straight on it

3pm Wednesday let’s give them an hour and go and collect

Arrive at depot couple of guy’s having a smoke on the wall, my car up on the ramp , only car in there.

Have a look in reception
No one home
No one in workshop

Approach the two guys smoking
!2 MINUTES MATE!
2 MINUTES MATE

Ok sit in reception looking to just get my car and leave

Staff member comes in a few minutes later and apologise for being rude

Quite emotional after a difficult day

Ok still hoping to get my car

10 minutes later I see activity around my car Excellent

False alarm disappeared

Have a look myself in the bay and quite surprised and shocked to see a new tyre on the the wrong front wheel

Asked the staff member who replied sorry my mistake

I am not disagreeing given the other tyre has a blue temporary plug in it that even a layman could see

5 minutes of conference in the back before a wheel is rolled out to me in the dark of the yard

Damage in the wall of the tyre mate
You need a new tyre here

Hmmm that’s pretty unlucky hey

They have either done me a big favour here and I can wait another 2 or 3 days while they order another tyre for the one I originally came in to have replaced (hang on which tyre will they replace next and will that have unknown issues that the Toyota main dealer did not pick up at the end of November) or

Hang on they have a customer care line

They answer very quickly and are very professional and polite
They do customer service
Regional manager will ring me directly

No call

2nd call to customer care line

All good again someone is going to call me

I left the car for the evening hoping it would be resolved sensibly and professionally the following day

Also filled an online contact form (no response at all to date

Following day after 3rd call to customer care line a manager called me who had investigated

And concluded I was being unreasonable
Absolutely no apology
(Really not convinced this was a manager but exhausted that line in the F1 family company complaint process)

Anyway boring myself now

Picked the car up lunchtime Thursday
New tyre on correct side and my now damaged tyre back on drivers side and all my sensors showing I have tyre issues I did not have when entering F1 Autocentre

Footnote 1st ever public complaint but you had to have been there to believe it

Merry Christmas

Excellent services. the gentlemen are all friendly and professional. Highly recommended. I have done MOT and car services in the garage for 6 years. I feel happy with their services.

Horrible horrible ‘man’ on the desk. Had four tyres fitted and paid for precision balancing, the wheels are not balanced at all, told to bring it back on the Monday, turn up to find they can’t do it for 2 hours, he was so rude to me, no apology and won’t refund my precision balancing as said he’ll balance them when I come back!!!! So now I have to go back a third time and I’m supposed to be going to wales this afternoon for work. Appalling attitude, escalated to customer services. Won’t be back again!!!!

In response the the ‘contact customer services’ your feeling get dismissed and you’re fobbed off with it’ll be dealt with internally. Wouldn’t touch them with a barge pole again.

*Edited to add after their bog standard reply to contact customer services, I did, they were hopeless and the regional manager didn’t bother to ring me back.*

I booked my car in for an interim service at Formula 1 Guildford and was told I’d receive a call back with progress report within 30 minutes. After over an hour with no update, I called them myself. A different staff member answered and claimed my car needed far more work than an interim service would cover.
When I returned to the autocentre to discuss this further, I was met with aggressive and erratic behaviour. The man made unfounded claims about the car’s condition, stating it was rusty and in poor shape. He implied the mileage was suspicious and questioned where I bought the car, because I had such low mileage. He spoke to me in a condescending and irritable tone, gesturing in frustration and suggesting I was incapable of understanding what he was saying.
He smelled of liquor, which raised serious concerns about his fitness to work and the safety of any service performed.
When I asked to speak to the manager or owner, he claimed to be both. I then asked for his name, and he flatly refused to provide it, saying he didn’t need to.
I had clearly booked an interim service, but he ignored that and insisted the car needed extensive work—including replacing rusty lower control arms and spark plugs—none of which was requested or required. When I disagreed, he became visibly irritated and continued to imply I was stupid and didn’t know anything about car servicing. He ultimately refused to carry out the service and told me to leave.
I was extremely uncomfortable with what had transpired. His behaviour was unprofessional, and completely unacceptable. I have always taken my vehicle to that autocentre and always been met with great service, which is why this experience is so disappointing to me.
I later took the car to Vauxhall, where it was serviced without issue. Their team confirmed the car was in excellent condition and required no additional work.
This experience was a clear breach of UK consumer service standards, including the Consumer Rights Act 2015 and basic health and safety obligations. No customer should be treated this way. I sincerely hope Formula 1 Autocentres reviews its staff conduct and provides proper training—this kind of behaviour drives customers away.

Disappointed with the service — I was not served at my booking time and was asked to wait for a couple of hours or come back the next day."

I booked my car in for three replacement tyres in the Guildford branch. On the fitting date I was informed 'the machine was broken and we can't do the job'...a technician was due to repair the unit later in the day. This was a great inconvenience for me as it had taken a long time to get the facility due to heavy school traffic. I rang the branch in the pm of the same day and the machine was still not repaired as the technician had not arrived. We discussed a new fitting date about three days out, and I inquired 'can you guarantee that your machine will be repaired by then, as I do not want another wasted trip?' The guy on the reception said... 'if you are going to be rude, we can cancel the job'. As far as I was concerned I was just wanting to make sure that we were going to be 100% OK second time round. I replied 'yes, let's cancel the job.'
Not a very good experience at your G'ford branch. Luckily all calls are recorded so do have a listen.

Fantastic service from the guys in Guildford. Went above and beyond to get my car back on the road in time for an important trip the next day.

Great service every time. Very helpful, friendly and do a great job.

Jacob did a great job again ordering the right tyre for me and fitting it at a time that helped me. Would recommend F1 every time

The staff are always nice!
And the price is right!

This morning I took my car in for an urgent repair to the exhaust. Despite being busy (after the Christmas and NY period) the guys fixed it for me in the same morning. Guys….thank you so much for your kindness.

Jacob & Matt are so helpful friendly & efficient. Do support Formula one Autocentre.

Friendly efficient

Guildford branch. I took my car into this garage as it was making an intermittent rattle. A member of staff took it for inspection. He came back into the waiting area and told me that 'everything had gone' and would need replacing. He then printed off a quote for the work which came to £1391. The car was due for a service and MOT the following month so I waited to see what they showed. My mechanic told me that the rear box needed replacing - which cost me £150. The car then passed its MOT. I emailed the company to ask why I had been given such poor advice but received no reply.

Madness. Booked in a vehicle for MOT online. Brought the vehicle in, then after leaving the vehicle with the centre, was called to say the vehicle isn't suitable for the test centre.
What IT systems are in place that can't tie up a vehicle registration, vehicle type, and test centre capabilities.

Amazing service from Formula One Autocentres in Guildford!
Had a tyre changed and they performed a free health check of my vehicle which only took 40 minutes!
The guy on reception even offered to get me an umbrella so I could walk to the coffee shop and wait for my car
Would recommend thank you!